Blake-Ambrose History

The following document, revised by Leigh Larson, was originally prepared in 1966 by Irma Ruth (Mason) Anderson, which she updated in 1970.

THE BLAKE-AMBROSE FAMILY HISTORY

Modified Reprint of the History

Originally Compiled by

IRMA RUTH (MASON) ANDERSON

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA

 1966

Including her 1970 Updates

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction                                                                                                                                    

Part One - Ancestors of Simon S. Blake and Mary Magdalena Ambrose                          

Part Two - Descendants of Simon S. Blake and Mary Magdalena Ambrose (2F) with some collateral lines

 INTRODUCTION

The descendants of Simon S. and Mary M. (Ambrose) Blake are many and are widely scattered throughout the United States. It is truly a family which typifies the settlement of America from earliest times to the present. While they were not frontiersmen they were among the pioneers who went forth to clear the land, make homes and build towns in areas as they became available for settlement.

All of the immigrant ancestors of the Blake-Ambrose family arrived in America before the War of the Revolution and some were among the earliest settlers of New England and Virginia. They came from the troubled places of England and Europe where persecution and privation were prevalent. They landed at the ports of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Jamestown, but within a generation we find them beginning to converge in the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, the two colonies which granted the greatest freedom to the individual and which were most tolerant in religion. They ultimately gathered in the southern tier of Pennsylvania counties and in Frederick and Washington counties of Maryland before crossing the Endless Mountains in search of land, independence and opportunity.

Among them was the spirit of dissent as well as an intensity of religious fervor, and all were avid for land. The Abbott and Walling families were established members of Roger Williams' colony in Rhode Island by 1650; Charles Gorsuch had left the Church of England and Virginia for Maryland where Quakers were accepted; and the Walborns and Batdorfs went through untold hardships in search of the kind of the farming land they had left in Germany finding it eventually in Lancaster and Berks County, Pennsylvania. The Blakes were devout Methodists and in every line descended from the Rev. Burdine Blake there may be found ministers or missionaries. Matthias Ambrose helped establish the first Reformed Church in the Monocacy Valley of Maryland; Christian Walborn and Martin Batdorf did the same for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Tulpehocken Valley of Pennsylvania.

The chief motive which impelled a settler to leave one home for another was to possess land of his own. As soon as grants from the king to colonizing companies made land available, people were there to occupy it. Movement away from New England began early, partly for religious reasons and partly for more fertile land. The Germans landing in Philadelphia pushed westward quickly for farm land. The soil of Virginia was exhausted from tobacco culture years before the Revolution, and the colonists in their search for a better living, moved north and south before attempting to cross the mountains which faced them on the west.

Frederick County, Maryland was the focal point of settlement for our families, thereby illustrating perfectly the statement made by Dieter Cunz that "Frederick County was the first place in America where immigrants from England met and mingled with the continental European." In fact, all our ancestors were in that vicinity or in nearby Pennsylvania at the time of the Revolution, ready at the end of the war to follow the path made by the frontiers­men through the pass made by the Potomac River and its tributaries.

The Ambrose family was among the first to settle in Brothersvalley Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. At a later date the Blakes joined other Maryland families who had gone to Morrison's Cove in northern Bedford County.

A generation passed before the Ambroses ventured another move west, going first to Clinton County, Indiana, and about twenty years later to the far frontier in Wisconsin on the banks of the Kickapoo River in Richland County. The Blake family dispersed in many directions across the newly opened western lands ‑ to Ohio, the Indian Territory, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

In 1854 Simon Blake took up land in the town of Orion, the center of settlement and supplies for Richland County on the northern bank of the Wisconsin River. The first year he was engaged as a clerk in a store and it was no doubt there that he met Mary Ambrose whose family had recently arrived from Indiana. They were married in 1855 and remained in Wisconsin as did many of their children, but others continued on to the Pacific Coast. One such was the family of James E. and Viola (Blake) Mason. Their story of going by covered wagon to Rooks County, Kansas, living there during eight years of drought and catastrophe, then moving on to Spokane County, Washington, again by covered wagon, will be told in a further publication on the Mason-Bradshaw family.

As one of their children, born in a sod house in Kansas, I am grateful for the opportunity I have had for doing personally the research which has led back to so many of my immigrant ancestors. My thanks go to the relatives who have supplied information on the more recent generations, especially to Mrs. Arline Ambrose Ringhand of Oregon, Wisconsin, who gathered the Ambrose material; to Mrs. Marian Hadden Jones of Denver who spent many hours in research on the early history of the Blake family; to Glenn A. Lovell of Oak Park, Illinois, for his interest and encouragement; to Mrs. Marian Pratt O'Brien of Santa Monica, California, for technical assistance; and to Glenn Allan Abbey, Foreign Service Officer of the United States Department of State, now deceased, who started me on the search for my ancestors.

I wish to express my appreciation for the cooperation and courtesies extended to me by the many County Court Houses, libraries and Historical Societies in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C.

Irma Ruth Mason Anderson

(Mrs. Arvid E. Anderson)

144 Kenneth Street

Santa Cruz, California 95060

January, 1966

THE BLAKE-AMBROSE FAMILY HISTORY

Part One

Ancestors of Simon S. Blake and Mary Magdalena Ambrose

Chart

Number

(2) Simon S. Blake and (3) Mary Magdalena Ambrose.

Simon S. Blake was born in Martinsburg, Bedford (later Blair) Co. PA. , Oct. 29, 1829 and died in Richland Center, WI March 5, 1904. Mary Magdalena Ambrose was born near Ligonier, Westmoreland Co., PA April 30, 1836 and died in Richland Center, WI May 10, 1909. They were married in the town of Orion, WI Jan. 18, 1855. Both are buried in the Oak Ridge cemetery there. 

As a youth Simon's experiences were many and varied. Until he was fourteen he was in school or helped his father on the farm. Then he tried his hand at learning the trades of merchant tailor, blacksmith and ax­making, but finally engaged in teaching. When he was seventeen he tried to enlist in the service of the United States for the Mexican War. As he was underage and his parents withheld their consent, he returned to ax-making until he was twenty‑one. In the fall of 1852 he visited relatives in Ironton, OH then went on to Arkansas where he worked in the lumbering business for seven months. Returning to Pennsylvania he taught school for a four‑month winter term.

It is not certain that Simon's brothers, Thomas and Charles, accompanied him to Richland County, WI when he went there to take up land in 1854, but it was not long before they, as well as his sisters' families - The Brennemans and Hamiltons - joined him. Land at $1.25 an acre enticed many from the east to settle in this part of the frontier. At this time the Ambroses arrived from Indiana. The land was still virgin forest so these first settlers established their homes in the same fashion their fathers had made homes in the forests of Pennsylvania by clearing the land, building log cabins and planting crops.

Simon entered 120 acres of land on Sections 17 and 18 of the town of Orion then went to work in the village as a clerk in a store. Quite possibly it was there he met Mary Ambrose (3) now a girl of nineteen, and he lost no time in proposing. They were married the following January. He left the store in the fall and taught a 3-month term of school at Pleasant Hill in the town of Eagle. The next spring they settled on his land on Oak Ridge and continued to live there until their latter years when they moved to the town of Richland Center.

They had three small children - Sylvester, Ida and Viola (1) when Simon responded to the call of Abraham Lincoln and enlisted in the 25th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry for a term of three years. He was wounded at Decatur, GA, in July, 1864 on Sherman's march to the sea. He used to tell his children how the ladies from the plantation mansion brought him food and water until he was taken from the battlefield to the field hospital. As his wound was serious he was sent from there to the Harvey General Hospital in Madison, WI and remained there until he received a disability discharge on March 20, 1865.

Simon Blake was interested in public affairs and held several town offices. In politics he was a Republican, and Viola would often be his companion in attending political rallies. He was deeply religious and helped to establish the Methodist church on Oak Ridge. This log church is no longer in existence but nearby in the cemetery Simon and Mary Blake lie buried.

Mary Magdalena Ambrose was nine years old when her parents moved from the old homestead near Ligonier, PA to Clinton Co., IN. They settled on land near Russiaville and remained there until 1854 when they migrated with their relatives, the Kanables, to Wisconsin.

Mary is remembered as a quiet, unassuming person busy with the care of raising a family of ten children, two of whom died in infancy. She seldom attended church as she was usually preparing dinner for the preacher who still had one, perhaps two, appointments yet to make. Their home was not a home of plenty, but they were hospitable and willing to share - a characteristic of most frontier people.

Their children were:

Sylvester Fremont 1856 - 1921. Mar. Ida Halsey. No issue. Buried in East Side Cemetery, Dodgeville, Iowa Co., WI.

Ida Elmira 1858 - 1941. Mar. William S. Abbey

Viola Genoa 1861 - 1956. Mar. James Eddy Mason

Mary Estella 1863 - 1940. Mar. 1) Elbion Ewing, 2) Joseph Davis

Salome Caroline 1865 - 1948. Mar. Luzern Pugh

John Ambrose died in infancy

Cora Jane 1869 - 1918. Mar. Wallace Pratt

Grant Burdine died in infancy

Dora Belle 1873 - 1941. Mar. Charles Herbert Lovell

Edna Pearl 1876 - 1973. Mar. Wallace Lawton

For their dates and descendants see Part Two.     Chart #2F.

(4) Burdine Blake and (5) Mazey Ann Simpkins.  

Burdine Blake was born Jan. 13, 1800 in Lancaster Co. , PA and died Aug. 26, 1874 in Martinsburg, PA. Mazey Ann Simpkins was born in February of 1794 in Washington Co., MD and died April 1, 1867. in Martinsburg, PA. They were married in Washington Co. Dec. 14, 1818 by the Rev. Mr. Keedy of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

There are no records to tell us of the exact place of Burdine's birth. His father, James, as a founderer went from place to place in the course of his occupation, and no doubt went to the furnaces in the Blue Ridge Mts. of Maryland from those in Lancaster Co. PA. It must have been there that he met Burdine's mother, Ann, after his first wife's death. A man with five small children would not remain long unmarried. It was natural that Burdine would become a moulder under his father's supervision. The Simpkins family who lived between Beaver Creek and Boonsboro were probably neighbors.

Mazey Ann Simpkins (5) was the seventh child in a family of ten children: seven girls and three boys. She was six years older than Burdine at the time of their marriage and twenty‑four years old. She was probably considered an "old maid", but her picture taken years later reveals her as a gentle, sweet person, poised, and no doubt capable. That she was sensitive about the difference in their ages is revealed by the fact that in all Federal Census reports she gives her age the same as her husband's, but the truth is revealed on her tombstone.

In 1820 shortly after the birth of their first child, James, they joined the flow of settlers leaving Maryland for Morrison's Cove in Bedford (now Blair) Co., PA. James Senior and Junior were already at the furnaces in Huntington Co., PA. Morrison's Cove was a broad, fertile valley in the heart of the Appalachian Mts. which were known to the early settlers as the Endless Mountains. Burdine took up land, as did his brothers, Simon and James, and became primarily a farmer, but it was by no means his sole interest.

It is probable that Burdine was influenced in his decision to become a preacher by the Rev. Jacob Gruber who was a dynamic and unconventional evangelist of that time and area. Ella Snowberger writes of him in "Bygone Days in the Cove" as follows:

Rev. Burdine Blake, pioneer farmer, at one time owned several hundred acres of land in and toward the north and west of Martinsburg. . . Sensing the need of missionary work among the forgemen working at the Peter Schoenberger iron banks at Rebecca Furnace, Henrietta Ore Hill, Maria Furnace, Neff's Mill and Royer, he entered the ministry. Daniel Bloom, a tanner, answering the call, associated himself with Rev. Blake. The two of them, the farmer preacher and the tanner preacher, established mission points in the school houses at these various places and spread the gospel under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Physically a powerful man and blessed with a stentorian voice, Burdine Blake preached with fist and tongue. As proficient at quelling a riot as at exhorting, the iron‑workers, hard‑boiled lot as many of them were, regarded him with profound respect... In instances when some unruly spirit was moved to unseemly outburst during divine service, it was nothing unusual for Burdine Blake to jump down from the pulpit and lay corrective hands on the recalcitrant. However after the stalwart preacher's reputation for physical prowess became, established, disorder in and around the mission points became beautifully rare. Per­haps "Buck and Berry", as they were known, were at their best at camp meetings in the grove which stood formerly along the Bloomfield road south of Martinsburg between the State Highway and the River Brethren church. . . The old exhorter left an imprint on the religious life of this section which the exigencies of time cannot blot out."  

He was ordained an elder, and his name appeared in the Minutes of the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference as such until 1870. By terms of his will his house and the lot on which it stood became the property of the Martinsburg Church as long as it was used as a parsonage.

The children of Burdine and Mazey Ann Blake were:

James b. Sept. 18, 1819, Washington Co., Md.: d. July 6, 1896, Martinsburg, PA. m. Margaret Ellen Brown, March 14, 1844. Their children were John W., James, Ulysses Grant, William Packer, Millard Fill­more, Charlotte, Burdine, Mary and Alice.

William Simpkins b. April 25, 1821; d. June 8, 1899 in Ogle County, IL; m. Catherine Gearhart, May 18, 1843. Their children were Albert McClay, Charles E., Wilbur, Laura, Millard Fillmore, William and Franklin G.

Burdine 1823 ‑ 1907. M. Mary Ellen Murray. Their children were James F., William Burdine and Daniel F.

Mazey Ann b. Feb. 3, 1825; d. Aug. 24, 1870. M. 1) Henry Brenneman, Aug. 11, 1844 by whom she had five sons, Martin, Albert L., Anthony, Alexander Marion and Henry Burdine; m. 2) Waldron Drew, 1855 by whom she had Josephiae Blanch, Samuel Wesley, Hubert Lee, Cordelia, Caroline and Elmer Ellsworth.

Rebecca Jane b. _____ d. 1906/7 in Wisconsin; m. Jacob Hamilton. Their children were John, William Byrdine and Laura.

Simon S. (2)

Thomas M. b. Aug. 23, 1831. Children: Fannie and Orren

Charles W.T. b. 24 June, 1834; d. Nov. 24, 1905. M. Sarah C. Taylor. Children: Belle Saloma, Mazey E., Hattie D., Harlan Burdine, Etta, James T., Dr. Charles W.

In the 1850s sons Simon, Charles and Thomas went to Wisconsin. William spent a few years in Washington Co., MD before moving on to Ogle County, IL. Burdine, Jr. went west then returned to Ohio before settling in West Virginia. The husbands of Mazy Ann and Rebecca Jane moved their families to Richland Co., WI and settled near Simon. Charles and Thomas eventually established themselves in Iowa. James alone remained in Martinsburg.

Seven months after the death of Mazey Ann Blake in 1867 Burdine married Mrs. Barbara Stiffler, a widow with grown children: At the time she was a Catholic but joined the Methodist Church in 1871. By terms of his will, Burdine was to be buried by the side of Mazey Ann in the Martinsburg cemetery.

(6) John Walker Ambrose and (7) Salome Kanable.  

John Walker Ambrose was born July 21, 1798 near Ligonier, PA, and died Aug. 7, 1880 in the Town of Forest, Richland Co., WI. He married Salome Knable (7), Jan. 22, 1824 in Somerset County. She was born Dec. 30, 1804 in Milford Township, Bedford (now Somerset) Co., PA., and died Nov. 27, 1882 in the Town of Forest, Richland County, WI. Both are buried in the Old Hopewell Cemetery on Hopewell Ridge near Viola, WI.

The Ambrose and Knable families were originally neighbors in Somerset Co., PA, but John's father moved to Ligonier Valley in Westmoreland Co. about 1790. Their new home was about twenty‑five miles distant, over Laurel Hill on the Forbes Road to Pittsburgh ‑ not too far to maintain contact with friends and relatives in Milford Township but a rugged trip over the mountains nevertheless. It seems that John Walker was the only one of the family to return to Somerset Co. for his bride, and according to the baptismal records of Sanners Lutheran Church they remained near their Knable relatives.

In 1845 they joined Sally's parents in moving with their entire family to Clinton Co., IN. All but the four youngest of this family of fifteen were married at this time. Nine years later, Levi Kanable with nine of his sisters and their families migrated to the frontier in Richland County, WI. They had been preceded by other Clinton Co. residents who had returned and told them of this land which was now available and so much like their earlier home in Somerset County. Did they long for the wooded hills during their stay on the plains of Indiana? Farming may have been easier there, but clearing the land of trees and building log cabins had been the 'heritage of these families for three generations.

Orion on the Wisconsin River was the center of settlement and supplies. The Ambroses remained here for a few months then went into the woods to take up land in the Town of Forest whose village settlement came to be called Viola.

The first town meeting was held at the home of John Walker Ambrose April 1, 1856. The following year he was elected a supervisor of Richland County. He was known as a successful farmer and held an honored place in the community.

The children of John Walker and Salome (Sally as she was known) Kanable were:

Caroline Amanda 1824-1903 Mar. 1) John Counts 2) Ed Thayer

Hiram William 1826-1901 Mar. 1) Mary Ann Gifford 2) Caroline Austin

Jacob Kanable 1829-1904 Mar. Rachel Ewing

Susannah 1831-1850 Mar. Bedford Gifford

Maria 1833-1912 Mar. Levi Gochenaur

Mary Magdalena 1836-1909 Mar. Simon S. Blake (3)

Harrison 1839-1863 Died of wounds during Civil War. Buried at Gettysburg.

Samuel 1842-1928 Mar. 1) Rachel Bender 2) Emma Short

Elizabeth 1845-1924 Mar. Morton Weston

(8) James Blake and (9) Ann………………….

There has been found no record for the birth date of James Blake other than the 1830 Federal Census of Woodbury township, Bedford Co., PA. He and his third wife, Polly, appear to be living in the home of his son Burdine and at that time he was between 70 and 80 years of age. His will was probated in Bedford County Aug. 28, 1845. Place of burial is not known. No dates at all are known for Ann (9) except that the 1820 Census for Woodberry Twp., Huntingdon Co. places her in the age group 26-45. Her maiden name is not known but inasmuch as her first child was named Burdine (4), which is most unusual as a given name, it is believed that it might also be her family name. Ann died prior to 1834 when James wrote his will in which he names his wife, Polly.

James Blake appears in the 1790 Federal Census as a resident of Rapho Twp., Lancaster Co., PA. This township at that time lay along the northern boundary of the county and included the first low range of mountains of the Appalachian chain. Tax records list James Blake as a "founderer" which was an important and skilled job in the iron furnaces which dotted South Mountain from Berks County to the Maryland border. A high grade of iron ore was mined in this area from earliest days to the present time. As mines developed we find the "iron master" taking his skilled workers from place to place, so a study of the movement of the Blake family follows along the line of furnaces from the Mt. Hope Furnace Lancaster Co., where his record first appears, to the furnace in Drumore township near the Susquehanna river, thence to Maryland a back again to Pennsylvania in Franklin, Huntingdon and Blair Counties.

James and his first wife, Sarah (maiden name unknown), had five children according to the family record: Elizabeth, Thomas, James, Henry, Simon. There appears in the Salem Lutheran Church record of Lebanon, PA, the baptism of an Isaac Blakes on Nov. 30, 1798 whose parents were James Blakes and wife. No further record of this child has been found, neither do we find a census record for James for the year 1800 so it may be assumed that wife and child may have died and that he was living with his five children with relatives in Pennsylvania or Maryland. He must have remarried shortly after Sarah's death for Ann (9) is the mother of Burdine who was born Jan. 13, 1800. Another child of this marriage, Maria, died in 1804.

The census of 1810 finds James Blake in Drumore Township. In 1815 he buys land from George Withers, iron master, for a consideration of $4,208.00, sells some of it in 1823 as a resident of Woodbury Twp., Bedford Co., but he is listed as a non‑resident taxpayer in Drumore Twp., from 1816 to 1828. During this period he was probably working in the furnaces of Huntingdon Co. for we find him and his son, James in Woodbury township of that county for the 1820 census. These two Woodbury townships should not be confused with each other; Woodbury of Huntingdon Co., and North Woodbury of Bedford are now in Blair Co.

Deeds and Orphans Court Records show that James and his sons James, Simon and Burdine with their families were living in Blair County in the vicinity of Martinsburg by 1830. James's will provided that his wife, Polly, was to receive yearly rental or full possession of lot and two houses in Martinsburg as long as she remained a widow. At her death or marriage said property was to be sold and proceeds to be divided equally between "my three sons: James, Simon, and Burdine. Eldest son, James, to have farm on which I now reside, about 70 acres, also desk. Burdine to have 20 acres of woodland adjoining and lying between his other land and that of son Simon Blake, also silver watch. Son Henry Blake now of Kentucky to receive $1,000.00 to be paid him by Simon in consequence of farm sold to him by me, $150.00 annually until the whole is paid. Grand­son John Righart $100.00 to be paid by Simon one year after date. Grand­child Ann Blake daughter of son Thomas $50.00; grandchild Sarah Blake daughter of Thomas Blake $75.00 also my bureau." This will was probated Aug. 28, 1845. Polly died in August, 1876 at the age of 80.

The children of James and Sarah Blake were:

Elizabeth b. May 11, 1789 Mar. _______ Righart

Thomas b. Feb. 29, 1792; d. 1830 Mar. 1) Polly Mosier 2) Ann Morrison. Burdine was the executor of his will which is recorded in Washington Co., Md.

James b. Jan. 1793; d. 1859 Mar. Sarah

Henry b. Feb. 26, 1795

Simon b. Nov. 29, 1796; d. 1849 Mar. 1) Jane Wade May 28, 1816-; 2) Nancy

The children of James and Ann Blake were:

Burdine (4)

Maria d. 1804

(10) William Simpkins and (11) Ruth Walling.

Little has been found concerning the youth of William Simpkins. Early records of the family are found in St. Thomas's Parish at Garrison Fox Baltimore Co., MD, but later records show that the family was living across the Potomac River in Loudon Co., VA, at the time of his father's death in 1772. His age as given in the Chancery Court Paper #5677 indicate that he was born in 1755. His marriage to Ruth Walling (11), March 20, 1780 is on record at St. John's Lutheran Church, Hagerstown.

As there were numerous Simpkins relatives living in Washington Co. MD. It is possible that William and his mother returned there shortly after his father's death. His military service during the Revolutionary War shows that he enlisted in the 6th Maryland Regiment, 2 June 1778 a was discharged 1 April, 1779.

William purchased land from his father‑in‑law, James Walling, (22) located on Beaver Creek, southeast of Hagerstown. Both he and his wife appeared to give depositions in the Chancery Court Case brought by William Worley and his wife, Ann Walling, against her father in 1795. William served as constable for Upper Antietam Hundred from 1804 to 1820. He died March 14, 1831. No record has been found of the death of Ruth Walling Simpkins.

This is the order in which the children were named, not necessarily the order of birth. Their children as named in his will were:

John W.

Sarah Mar. Dec. 5, 1805 Henry Guyton

Ruth A.

Mary Mar. March 21, 1809 William Woltz

Elizabeth

Mazey Ann (5)

Rebecca

Darius.  According to his military record for service in the War of 18 he was born in 1785 in New Jersey and at the time of his enlistment, Jan. 23, 1813, he was single and by occupation a cordwainer (shoemaker). By Warrant #20301, he received 160 acres of bounty land. Mar. Roer Kadle, March 23, 1822.

Nancy  Mar. Sept. 11, 1817 John Spencer

Thomas, deceased. His daughter to be considered an equal heir with the rest of the children.

(12) Henry Ambrose and (13) Susan Walker.

Henry Ambrose was born June 26, 1762 probably in the Conococheague Valley in Pennsylvania and died in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland Co., PA, Jan. 27, 1833. Susan Walker was born in Frederick Co., MD, Jan. 8, 1768 and died in Ligonier Valley Nov. 22, 1843. Both are buried in Brant's Cemetery south of Ligonier.

Henry and Susan raised a family of twelve children and most of them settled in western Pennsylvania. Three married into the Welshonse family and four married Bitners.

Their children were:

Jacob 1788 - 1872 Mar. Lena ________. Jacob settled in the vicinity of the present McConnellsburg and descendants still live there.

Elizabeth 1790 - 1862   Mar. Henry Welshonse

Margaret 1792 - 1847    Mar. Henry Johnson

Mary 1794 - 1843           Mar. George Welshonse

Catharine 1796 -            Mar. Mike Welshonse

John Walker (6)

Susan 1800 - 1843

Frederick 1802

Rachel 1804 -                 Mar. Daniel Bitner

William 1806 - 1868       Mar. Sarah Bitner

Martha 1808 -                Mar. Alexander Bitner

George 1811 -                 Mar. Martha Bitner

(14) Jacob Knable (Kanable) and (15) Magdalena Enos.

Jacob b. 1781; d. 1871 in Russiaville. Magdalena b. 1786; d. 1875 in Russiaville.

It was with Jacob that the final form of spelling the family name was reached. From the German Knobel it had gradually been altered to Knebel, Kneble, Knable; but when Jacob and Magdalena moved with their entire family from Somerset Co., Pa. to Indiana they changed the spelling to Kanable.

Jacob was born in 1781 in Washington Co., Md. shortly after his parents had arrived from Berks Co., Pa. He was about twelve years old when the family moved again into what is now Somerset Co., Pa. We do not have the exact date of his marriage to Magdalena Enos but it was probably in 1803 or early 1804. According to family tradition she was born in Somerset Co., her family having migrated from Northampton Co., Pa. several years before the 1790 Federal Census.

Jacob and Magdalena had seventeen children, two of whom died in infancy. Jacob farmed in summer and taught school during the winter. He served as Justice of the Peace for twenty years during which time he performed ninety‑nine marriages. Records of the family are found in Sanners Lutheran Church in Milford Township. They sold their farm in 1845 and moved to Clinton Co. , Indiana. They located in Honey Creek Township about 1‑1/2 miles west of the town of Russiaville.

George Woody describes the settlement as follows: "At the time of its first settlers the counties of Howard, Grant, Miami arid Clinton were owned by a band of Miami Indians under the chieftainship of Little Turtle. A French nobleman married a sister of Little Turtle. To this union was born a son who was named John Richardville who inherited the tribal hunting grounds. His name when given the French pronunciation sounded as though it was like Roosherville and with a little modification was later applied to the village." The Kanables arrived shortly after the purchase of this land by the U. S. government when it was opened for settlement.  

Both Jacob and Magdalena are buried in the Russiaville Cemetery.

Their children are as follows:

Salome (7) Mar. John Walker Ambrose

George 1806 ‑                Mar. Leah Wengert

John b. 1807 Mar.‑ 1) Catherine Bittner 2) Rebecca Younkin

Jacob b. 1809 Mar. Mary Tedrow

Elizabeth b. 1810 Mar. William Walter

Levi b. 1811 Mar. Barbara Schultz

Catherine 1813 unmarried in 1850

David b. 1815 Mar. 1) Elizabeth Baldwin 2) Nancy Idial

Mary b. 1816 Mar. William Weigle

Rebecca b. 1818 Mar. John Gribble

Samuel b. 1820 Mar. 1) Catherine Masters 2) Mary Lawrence 3) Polly Fritz

Noe b. 1821

Emma (Amy) b. 1822 Mar. Michael Schultz

Suzanne b. 1825 Mar. James Wiltrout

Mattie (Magdalena) b. 1826 Mar. John Brumbaugh

Phoebe b. 1829 Mar. Thomas Chandler

(16)          . . . . Blake and . . . (17 ).

The immediate ancestors of James Blake have not been identified. They were of English descent and family tradition has it that they descended from the family to which Admiral Blake belonged. Admiral Robert Blake was a naval hero under Oliver Cromwell. There is also the story that an ancestor, was attached to the court of Queen Caroline. Another story is that there is a Blake window in Winchester Cathedral. More recent and positive evidence is the recollection of Viola and Ida Blake of an English lawyer visiting in their home when they were children who was looking for a Blake descendant to return to England to partici­pate in the settlement of an estate. Their father, Simon (2) was not interested. The West Virginia branch of the family have the story that several brothers came to this country before the Revolution to evangelize for the Methodists. This is credible as there is a strong religious bent in many of the lines ‑ almost to the point of fanaticism. Ministers, missionaries and devoted church workers are found in each generation. In general the family has been affiliated with the Methodist Church.

Blake families were found early in the settlement of America, notably in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and in the south - states of Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas. Descendants of widely separated lines located on the Eastern Shore and Western Shore of Maryland, and today the name is common in the Baltimore area. The ancestry of the Rev. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake leads back to this area and the family claims descent from both William Blake, the poet, and the admiral's family (Admiral Blake himself was not married). Further search on the family might be made in Ireland as one branch was settled there on extensive estates during the time of Prince John in the twelfth century. It is possible that Robert Coleman, the iron master of Pennsylvania who came from Ireland brought the family over to this country, as they seemed to be skilled iron workers.

One county history in Maryland states that the James Blake family was of German origin which is incorrect. They may have settled among the Germans there and intermarried with them. Research indicates that James Blake if his father was not an immigrant, belonged to a Virginia or Maryland family.

(18)  ……… . Burdine and . . .(19 ).  

If Ann's maiden name was Burdine the geographical distribution of families of that name in 1790 was the same as that of Blake. There were a number in Virginia at that time. Variations in spelling of this name  are Burden, Berdine, Beardin, Berden, etc.

(20) John Simkins and (21) Mary Gorsuch.

There are many unanswered questions about the father of William Simpkins (10). We were not sure his name was John until we read the deposition of Mary Simpkins (21), William's mother in the Chancery Court Proceedings File #5677 in which she states she formerly lived in Loudon Co., Va. then we found that a John Simkins was deceased in 1772 in Loudon Co. and the inventory was signed by men whose names also appeared in the Court Case. Mary's age at the time of her deposition April 30, 1795 was sixty‑five.

In the Hall of Records, Annapolis, there is an original manuscript signed by Priscilla Simkin on a statement of accounts for John Simkin in Capt. James Brown's Co. in Queen Ann's County. He is listed as "common soldier", #90 in a total number of 120. The list was dated Feb. 22, 1748. Why should his mother be signing for his account in 1745 which apparently was not settled or recorded until 1748? Was he needed at home during this period of Indian uprising or was he under age? The Simkins land known as ''Simkins Repose" lay near the village of Garrison which was probably named for the old Indian fort erected there and was near the fairly new road which had been made leading from Baltimore to Frederick.

St. Paul's Church in Baltimore established a "chapel in the woods" at Garrison Forest which was known as St. Thomas's Parish. Simkins records appear in both but John's first children appear in the latter:

John b. 25 Dec. 1746 This is probably the John who became so prominent in early Allegany and Garrett County history. He had extensive land holdings, was associate judge of Allegany Co. in 1791 and was a Member of the House of Delegates for a number of years. Married first, Mary Jenifer; second, Elizabeth Lamar. Died in 1827.

Susannah b. 2 Feb. 1748.

Priscilla b. 29 Dec. 1750.

No further records appear in this parish so it is probable that the family was moving during the next few years into Frederick County or across the Potomac River into Loudon County.

William (10) b. 1754/5. It is probable that Dickinson (Dicker son, Dickeson) Simkins of Washington Co. and Cumberland, Md. is a brother who was born between 1750 and 1754 - the period for which we have no record.

According to his father's will (1739) John was the recipient of the residue of lands after the bequests to his sisters. In 1749 he began selling portions of his holdings. There are several entries at the Land Office up to 1767. Perhaps it was at this time he moved away from the Baltimore area where Mary's family lived. By the terms of her father's will she received one negress.

(22) James Walling and Mary Malott (23).

James Walling was born in 1727 probably in New Jersey and died in Washington County, Maryland in 1811. There seems to be no question about these dates which were obtained from the papers of Mary Long Dickerhoff in her application for membership in D. A. R. #146493, but many other items do not corroborate other reliable and official records. Anna Elizabeth Strock may have been the name of his first wife, but other records state that Mary Malott was his wife in 1754. By his own statement in 1795 in the Chancery Court Proceedings #5677 he was a widower and had no son at the time his daughter Ann was married in 1782; and his daughter Sarah Shimer said that he had five places and five daughters. Mary Malott died sometime before 1787 when he married Mary Mercy Stull.

The records which show that Mary Malott was the wife of James Walling are found in the Balance Book #1, folio 106, Frederick Co. , Md. on file in the Hall of Records in Annapolis. They also show that she was his wife in 1754 in Accounts Liber #36, folio 2,37 which was the settlement of the estate of Theodor Malott (46) wherein his daughter "Mary Walling wife of James Walling" is mentioned.

This James Walling is referred to in Frederick County deeds as James Walling, Jr. and also as Col. James Walling although the latter appears to be a courtesy title as the Daughters of the American Revolution gives his rating as Captain for his service in the Revolutionary War as a member of the Maryland Militia.

Most of the information about this .family was derived from the Chancery Court Proceedings, file #5677, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis. James's oldest daughter, Ann (Nancy), and her husband William Worley brought suit against her father in 1.793 for possession of the tract of land called "Old Fox Deceived" which he had promised her when she would marry. Her marriage apparently had displeased him so he had not transferred this property to her but had sold it to John Winders and Edward Rutter. Ann was the only one of his children who had remained with him until his last marriage. This document is revealing as to the relationships within the family.

His holdings were extensive and lay east and southeast of Hagerstown. In 1769 James Walling, Sr. (44) and James, Jr. disposed of seven tracts of land and apparently James, Sr. came to live with James, Jr., a situation which resulted in ill-feeling within the family, especially with his brother, Delashmutt.

Children mentioned in the Chancery Court Proceedings and in James' will are as follows although the order of birth is uncertain:

By Mary Malott:

Nancy (Ann) Mar. William Worley, son of Brace Worley June 18, 1782

Sarah b. 1756 Mar. John Shimer Mary Mar. Joseph Drake

Elizabeth Mar. James Williams

Ruth (11) b. 1763 Mar. William Simpkins (10) March 20, 1780

By Mary Mercy Stull:

James b. Aug. 31, 1789 d. March 12, 1823

Mercy b. March 28, 1791 Mar. William Reynolds Dec. 5, 1809

Eliza b. Sept. 23, 1797 Mar. Elie Woltz June 29, 1816, d. May 2, 1867. Buried in the Hagerstown Cemetery, but when the old cemetery was disposed of in 1885 the bodies were removed to a private lot in Williamsport.

(Note: In 1931 an inquiry was placed in the Boston Transcript for information concerning James Walling. "According to the family Bible record James Walling married first Mary Melot of Frederick County, Maryland, second, Mary Margaret Gregg‑, daughter of Robert Gregg of Allegany County, Md. He lived in the vicinity of Hughes Furnace." This reference can be found in the Boston Transcript file at the Sutro Library in San Francisco, California. No further information is given.)

(24) Frederick Ambrose and (25) Margaretha . . . ..  

Frederick Ambrose is presumed to be the son of Matthias Ambrose who settled in the Monocacy Valley, Md. in the 1730s, but if the latter came to this country as a widower, age 37, and had children by an early marriage, Frederick could be the son of Matthias, Jr. who settled in Ayr Township, Bedford Co. , Pa. about 1761. If not a son, then he was probably living with his brother there, doubtless helping him to make a home in the wilderness.

Frederick was born May 4, 1738 in Maryland. Margaretha, whose maiden name is unknown but believed to be Countryman, was born Jan. 1 1742. Birth dates of his children would indicate that they were married in 1762. It is possible that they were married in Maryland and lived there for a few years. Frederick County records show that he purchase land in 1764 and sold it again in 1768.

The Conococheague Valley in Ayr Township at this time was "the most remote stronghold of civilization in the primeval forest", however it was being settled by the migration of German Reformed families from Frederick County, Md. and the Scotch‑Irish from Lancaster Co., Pa. Indian raids still occurred which may have been the reason for Frederick and his family living in Maryland for their first years of married life.

That he was adventurous there is no question, for we find him moving on to Brothersvalley Twp. into the heart of the mountains as soon as it was opened up for sale. The conjecture that his wife's name was Margaretta Countryman is based on the fact that the two families were closely associated in both of these settlements and frequently intermarried. The Countrymans were in Brothersvalley Twp. before the Ambroses arrived. Frederick first appears on the tax list there in 1773.

The Sons of the American Revolution have accepted the listing in the Pennsylvania Archives of Frederick Am‑‑ ‑‑1 as his name for service as First Lieutenant in Capt. Henry Rhoad's Company recruited in Brothersvalley Township Dec. 10, 1777, but admission to the Daughters of the American Revolution is based on his service as a patriot as assessor of Bedford County, elected Oct. 12, 1780. I am indebted to Jane Ambrose (now deceased) of Grove City, Pa. for the use of her material and papers in qualifying for membership in the D.A.R.

The family moved to Ligonier Valley in Westmoreland County about 1790. The original homestead was still standing and occupied by Ambrose descendants when we visited it in 1949. Frederick and Margaretta are buried in Brant's private cemetery about three miles south of the town of Ligonier. Their stones are inscribed as follows: "Frederick Ambrose was born the 4th of May, 1738 and died the 29th of July, 1821. " Jane Ambrose noted that below this was a bowknot, rake, fork, sickle, hoe and spade. Above were 19 stars, a shield, and what seemed to be two eagles. The other stone read "Margaret Ambrose was born the 1st of January 1742 and died the 11th of September 1809. "

Their children were:

Henry (12)

John 1766 - 1839 Mar. Susan Countryman

Mary 1770 - 1787 Mar. Jacob Countryman

George 1778 - 1851 Mar. Margaret . . . . .

(26) George Walker and (27) Vineay ……….  

According to Williams' "Historical & Biographical Record of Frederick Co., Md. " vol. 2, p. 1271, George Walker was born before 1732 when the family came to America. He settled eventually in that part of Frederick County which is now Montgomery County. George died in 1775 from the bite of a dog resulting in hydrophobia. He left a wife and six children who are enumerated in the Census of 1776, Lower Potomac Hundred, Frederick Co., Md.

They are:

Male b. 1761

Benjamin b. 1763

Elizabeth b. 1765

Susanna (13) b. 1768

Jonathan b. 1772

George b. 1774

Robert Ferguson was administrator of the estate of George Walker and rendered a statement of his account 23 July 1775.

Another Walker family, also of English descent, came into the same area of Frederick County from Philadelphia. They may have been related but I have not been able to determine the relationship nor to learn the maiden name of George's wife, Vineay. It is likely that she took the children after her husband's death to live with his brother, Jacob, who had migrated earlier to Brothersvalley Township, Bedford Co., Pa. There Susan would have met Henry Ambrose whom she married ' ca. 1787. Both families were communicants of the Reformed & Lutheran Church in Berlin, Pa.

(28) Jacob Knable and (29) Marie Salome Cassell.

Jacob Knebel was born in 1753 in the Tulpehocken settlement of Berks Co., Pa. and baptised in the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stouchsberg there between Jan. 3rd and March 18th, 1753. His marriage to Marie Salome Cassell is also to be found in the same record for Nov. 12, 1776. She was born in Bethel township on Jan. 3, 1753 according to the record of Dr. E. C. Saylor of Berlin, Pa.

The only additional reference we found to Marie Salome in Berks Go. was that she was a sponsor at the baptism of Salome Schmid, daughter of Adam and Maria Elisabeth Schmid, Jan. 29, 1775 in St. Paul's (Klopp's) Reformed Church in Berks Co. It is quite possible that one of her sisters was the wife of Adam Schmid, at least there was a close relationship between the two families.

During the Revolution Jacob and Herman Knebel served in Capt. George Batdorf's Company. In 1779 or 1780 Jacob and his brother, George, migrated with their families to Washington Co., Md. and settled near Clear Spring in the Conococheague Valley, that lovely valley whose western vista was the first range of the Endless Mountain Germans from Pennsylvania and Frederick County, Md. had been among the first settlers there and had established St. Paul's Lutheran and Reformed Church in 1747. In the records of this church we find the birth and baptism of two of Jacob's children: John, b. Oct. 27, 1789, bapt. June 13, 1790 and Marie Elizabeth, b. June 21, 1791, bapt. Aug. 7, 1791.

In 1793 the Knables left Maryland for western Pennsylvania. They settled on a farm of 400 acres in Milford Township, now in Somerset County. Jacob became an elder in the Reformed & Evangelical Church. During this period the name of the family underwent several changes in spelling. When Jacob arrived in Maryland he was spelling it Knebel or Kneble; in the church records of Milford Township it became Knabel or Knable.